Closing Time
by Ferdy 63
Summary: I'll admit I'm a bit Carol/Daryl obsessed right now. This is my 3rd story in 3 days. I've wanted to do a story centered around "Closing Time" the song by Tom Waits and this just seemed to work. Total Caryl fluff. I needed some good feelings to get the weekend kicked off! Reviews make my day.


The mood was festive. It was a survival party. They had food, shelter, relative safety and most importantly, they all had each other. Escaping Terminus had brought them all even closer as a group. It had also made them stronger.

With the rescue of Beth from the group in Atlanta, their family was complete. Rick looked around at the people in the room as they ate dinner and talked and laughed. It felt good. He was carrying Judith in his arms and she even seemed to be enjoying the happy mood of everyone. She was laughing and cooing as he bounced around with her.

Beth walked over to where Rick was standing. "I can't believe how much she's grown in only a couple of months. Do you remember me, sweetie?" she asked as she held her hands out to Judith. She had been longing to hold the little girl all day.

Judith looked at her but wouldn't let go of Rick's shoulder. She turned her head away and ducked her face against her daddy's chest. "Aww, Judy, come on, you remember Bethie, don't ya?" he asked.

" I know what to do," she told them. She had an Ipod in her bag with a tiny portable speaker. "I only use this on rare occasions, Judy, so consider yourself special. This was your favorite song back at the prison."

She hooked the tiny speaker up and tapped the screen. A slow melody began playing. It was Tom Waits singing "Closing Time". As the music began, Judith's eyes lit up and she went straight into Beth's arms. The two of them were soon dancing around as they'd done almost every day back at the prison.

Everyone watched for a moment but soon Bob and Sasha joined the dancing, then Rick asked Michonne if she'd care to give it a whirl. Maggie and Glen followed the rest and were soon swaying together on the floor as the song continued.

"_Well, I hope that I don't fall in love with you,_

_Cause falling in love just makes me blue_

_Well the music plays and you display_

_Your heart for me to see"_

Eventually even Abraham and Rosita decided to join in. Carol was watching them all and smiling. It was nice to even be able to smile now. She had wondered at one point if she'd ever be able to be happy again. She wasn't paying attention to anything else around her but simply listening to the music and watching the couples, enjoying the easy warmth and comraderie of everyone. She was a bit startled when she felt Daryl sit down beside her. "You, uh, you wouldn't wanna dance, would ya?" he mumbled without looking at her.

She was stunned to say the least but also a little amused. She couldn't imagine Daryl Dixon dancing and she wasn't going to let this opportunity go without getting a chance to see it.

"Sure," she said as she stood and took his hand pulling him out into the center of the room.

He started out by standing back and holding an arm out in some kind of formal waltz pose but she quickly just put her arm around his neck and pulled his hand down to her lower back. She leaned in and whispered, "Just follow my lead. It's not hard. You mostly just sway back and forth."

He looked up at her gratefully and then surprised her again by pulling her tightly against him as the music continued.

"_Well the room is crowded, people everywhere,_

_And I wonder should I offer you a chair?_

_Well if you sit down with this old clown_

_Take that frown and break it_

_Before the evening's gone away._

_I think that we could make it."_

They didn't talk at first. He seemed to be concentrating on not stepping on her toes. Neither of them noticed that everyone else in the room was looking their way and smiling.

"I never told ya," he said softly as they danced, "I'm glad ya stayed with us. I don't want to lose ya again."

Carol's heart skipped a beat and she had trouble swallowing for a moment. Daryl Dixon was full of surprises tonight. For once, she was the one who didn't know what to say. She leaned back to look into his eyes. He was looking back at her and this time he held her gaze. He didn't look away or look down to avoid eye contact. It was like the wall between them had finally fallen completely.

"_I can see that you are lonesome just like me_

_And it being late you'd like some company _

_Well I turn around to look at you_

_And you look back at me"_

"What's gotten into you tonight, Daryl?" she finally asked. "I never thought I'd see you dancing. Have you had too much of that cheap wine Glenn found?"

"Nah, I ain't had nothin' to drink. I'm just …happy, I reckon. Wasn't too long ago, I thought I'd lost all of ya. Now we're all together again. I got ya back. I just don't want to waste no more time, Carol. Second chances ain't exactly plentiful, specially if you're a Dixon. I intend on makin' this one count," he confessed as they continued to dance.

Her forehead crinkled in a questioning look. "I don't see why you'd need a second chance, Daryl. I didn't think you were the type to look back. You've always been the one man I know who never wasted time on regrets . What exactly are you planning on doing differently now?"

He leaned forward just slightly and whispered, "This," just before his lips touched hers.

She couldn't move. There was a sudden spark as their mouths met. For a moment she felt like she was floating. His arms tightened around her and picked her up, swinging her around on the dance floor but never once releasing his mouth from hers.

The song was coming to an end. Daryl finally let her feet touch the ground again. Everyone else had stopped and turned to watch the two of them. The last lines of the song played.

"_Well it's closing time, the music's fading out_

_Last call for drinks I'll have another stout…._

_And I think that I just fell in love with you."_

"I asked Beth to play that song, Carol. I ain't good with words but it's how I feel," he told her as they stood together in the warm glow of the candlelight.

Tears began to well in her crystal blue eyes as she looked up at the man who had become her life line, her savior, her Pookie. "I always knew you were secretly a romantic," she told him in a trembling voice. "It's how I feel, too."

The next song began to play. The others had gone back to dancing. Rick and Michonne took Judith back from Beth so that she could dance with Carl. Tyrese had even asked Tara to join in with him. None of that mattered, though. For Daryl and Carol, no one else existed outside the two of them. They'd always belonged together but it had taken going through hell to get them to admit it.


End file.
